"Gary" wrote in message . rr.com...
OK...I know...this is probably a stupid question, but then again you know
the old saying about the only stupid question is the one that goes unasked,
so here goes.

I always assumed that the draft of a boat was...for lack of a better term,
how deep it ran in the water at the lowest point. I am purchasing a boat
right now, and the survey results listed the boat as having a DRAFT of 3
feet, but a DEPTH of 5 feet. I kinda assumed these were the same thing, but
obviously I was wrong.

I can only imagine now that the draft must be the how deep the hull runs and
the depth must be how deep the rudders / wheels etc. run.

The difference that I am aware of between depth and draft has to do
with capacity calculations. "Depth" is measured in a straight line
from the low point of the hull to the top of the hull. I am probably
not explaining this right --- The depth of a boat includes the
portions of the hull that are above and below the water. If you were
able to fill your boat to the top of the hull with water, how deep
would the water be?

So if you your boat has a 3 ft draft, but 5 ft depth, I would assume
that you have about 2 of freeboard at midship when loaded to capacity.
My boat only draws about 2.5 to 3 ft of water, but the documentation
says the depth is 6 ft. There's about 3 feet of *hull* above the
water at the middle of the boat.